Clothes line attachments



Oct. 16, 1962 J. A. BARBELLA 3,058,598

CLOTHES LINE ATTACHMENTS Filed March 15, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR JOHN A. BARBELLA ATTORNEY Oct. 16, 1962 J. A. BARBELLA 3,058,598

CLOTHES LINE ATTACHMENTS Filed March 15, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JOHN A. BARBELLA ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 16, 1952 3,058,598 CLOTHES LINE ATTACHNIENT John A. Barbella, 402 Ave. N, Brooklyn 30, N.Y. Filed Mar. 15, 1961, Ser. No. 106,993 7 Claims. (Cl. 211119.07)

This invention relates to clothes line attachments which permit a person to hang clothes out on a wash line as well as to remove the same, from a position entirely with in the room on the inside of the window, thus avoiding the need to stretch out of the window with its consequent inconvenience and even danger.

In the past numerous devices have been disclosed whose aim and purpose were substantially the same as is set forth in the preceding paragraph. Such devices, however, have been generally cumbersome and relatively complicated and therefore lacked practicability.

It is therefore a prime object of the present invention to provide a device for the purpose mentioned, which is very simple in construction as well as inexpensive to manufacture and install, and which can be used in a simple and practical manner with a minimum of effort and skill.

The above as well as additional and more specific objects will be clarified in the following description wherein reference numerals refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended primarily for the purpose of illustration and that it is therefore neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details shown or described except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the window frame of a house looking at the same from outside the window, showing the device of the present invention attached to the frame and in an intermediate position of parallelity with the plane of the window.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device showing a position of the bracket thereof when the bracket extends through the window into the inside of the room.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the device showing the bracket in full lines in a position between that shown in FIG. 2 and a position, shown in broken lines, wherein the bracket extends outward from the window substantially at right angles to the plane of the window.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of a modified form of the upper of the two bracket arm supporting members.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of another modified form of the upper bracket supporting member.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view of a type of chain adapted for use with the device.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates a window frame and the numeral 11 the sill of the window. Secured, as by means of screws, to the outside of the frame are a pair of vertically spaced L-shaped members 12 and 13 having horizontal angle-shaped legs 14 and 15, respectively, which extend part way across the window space. Each leg 14, 15 includes a vertical web and a horizontal web, shown at 16 and 17, respectively, for the leg 14 and at 18 and 19, respectively, for the leg 15.

A unitary bracket 20 is shaped substantially as shown, to provide a horizontal top arm 21, a vertical outer end portion 22, and a downwardly sloping lower arm 23. At their extremities the arms 21 and 23 are provided with aligned vertical pin-like extremities 24 and 25, respectively. The entire bracket 20 may be formed of a bar circular in cross-section, but in any event at least the extremities or pins 24 and 25 are circular in cross-section. These pins register rotatably in aligned holes through the webs l7 and 19, shown at 26.

A pin 27 projects outward from the intermediate bracket portion 22 and has a pulley 28 rotatable thereon. On the pin portion 24 of the upper arm 21, two vertically spaced horizontal pulleys 29, 30 are rotatably mounted in close proximity to each other, being maintained in position by any suitable means.

A clothes line is shown at 33, consisting of the usual endless length of rope or the like having the outer end of the loop trained over a pulley, on a pole or the like, not shown, remote from the window, the line having the top reach or run 32 and the bottom reach or run 31.

Attached to the upper bracket arm 21 at a point 35 spaced outward from its pivot 24 is a chain 34, the other or free .end of the chain preferably being provided with a handle or grip 36. The vertical web 16 of the upper attaching member 14 is provided with an inverted L-shaped slot extending upward through its lower edge, substantially as shown at 37.

FIG. 4 shows the device in position when the bracket 20 has been swung outward from the window, which is the case either after laundry has been hung on the line or when the line is not being used. The clothes line 33 leads from the two pulleys 29, 30 to the pulley 38 on the pole or other remote support for this pulley. The bracket may be positioned at the angle shown between the bracket, in full lines, and the plane of the window or, in order not to obstruct the window, it may be swung into the position shown fragmentarily in broken lines, as a limit. It is apparent from FIG. 4 that tension on the line 33 leading from the pulley 38 will tend to swing the bracket clockwise. To prevent such swinging and to stabilize the bracket 20 in its position, the chain 34 is tautened and a link thereof is registered in the slot 37 in the well known manner, that link being locked in the slot by the tension on the chain. It is apparent that the chain thus permits of a wide choice of angular positions of the bracket between a position of parallelity with the window and one at right angles thereto.

If the chain 34, FlG. 4, were entirely disengaged from the slot 37 and released to hang freely, it is obvious that the bracket 20 would swing at an accelerating speed into and through the window, unless the operator reached out at considerable distance through the window to grasp the bracket at a point a considerable distance from its pivot, for the torque applied to the bracket by the line 33, especially if the latter is weighted with laundry, would be considerable and it may be excessive for a frail house wife. Since a prime consideration in the utilization of a device of the type presented herein is to eliminate the need for the operator to reach or stretch out of the window to any great degree, it is further desirable that the swinging of the bracket 20 from its extreme position outward from the window to its extreme position on the inside of the window, and vice versa, be accomplished not only with a minimum of effort and strain but also without having to reach to any considerable extent through the window. The present invention includes features which accomplish this purpose.

It is to be noted that the slot 37 in the web 16 of the upper attaching member 14 is formed of a vertical portion 370: open at the bottom and a horizontal portion 37b extending from the top of the portion 37a in the direction of the free outer end of the member 14, and that the slot portion 37a has a greater width than the portion 3711. As is well known, common types of chains are formed of mutually adjacent links either wholly or in part positioned in planes at right angles to each other. This is illustrated by the two chain links 39 and 40 in FIG. 9, so that successively the links are edge-on to the eye and in full width, in the manner in which the links 39 and 40, respectively are shown. The entrance slot portion 37a is made of width greater than the width of a chain link, and the slot portion 37b is made of a. width less than that of the link but slightly larger than the edge-on thickness of the link. Thus, when the handle end of the chain 34 is held so that the chain is positioned within the slot portion 37a the chain is free to ride therethrough, and in order to lock the chain in the slot 37 at a given position a link which in that position is horizontal is let upward and to the left, FIG. 1, to register in the portion 37b, and the next succeeding link, which is vertical, stops movement of the chain through the slot.

When the chain 34, FIG. 4 is disengaged from the slot portion 37b by moving it to the left, the chain is let down into the portion 37 without entirely removing the chain but letting it remain in the portion 37a. Then, holding on to the chain, as by the handle 36, with one hand, the bracket 2!) is permitted to swing slowly clockwise while the chain is payed out slowly through the slot portion 37a. When the bracket 2t; has thus been permitted to swing to a position approximately parallel with the window it is grasped or at least stopped by the other hand. In the latter position of the bracket it is close to the window so that it may be reached by the said other hand without stretching any distance beyond the window, and the chain is then let go of to hang from the upper arm of the bracket. Obviously the chain is now also in easy reach to be taken hold of again and to be passed through the slot 37 in the opposite direction, as indicated in FIG. 3. When the bracket has been permitted to swing inward to the desired position, the chain is again locked in the upper slot portion 37b, to retain the bracket in that position for hanging laundry on the line or taking it off.

It is to be seen that while the chain 34 is being payed out or pulled in through the slot portion 37a it presses against the left-hand wall 41 of the said portion, FIG. 1. In order to reduce friction of the chain against this wall, it is desirable that the same be rounded, and such a rounded wall is shown at 42 in FIGS. 57; in these figures parts which are otherwise identical to those previously mentioned bear the same reference numeral followed by the suffix a. The L-shaped slot, equivalent to the slot 37, is, however, shown composed of the wide vertical portion 43 and the narrow horizontal poriton 44. In FIG. 5 the two chain links 39, are also shown positioned in the slot portion 43. As a further modification an overhanging projection 45 may be provided at the upper end of the wall 42 to tend to prevent the chain from rising into the slot portion 44 while it is moving under tension.

As a still further modification, the structure shown in FIG. 8 may be provided. Here the slot, equivalent to the slot 37, is shown having the wider vertical portion 46 and the narrower horizontal portion 47, and the parts similar to the equivalent parts of FIGS. 1-4 are indicated by the same reference numeral followed by the suffix b. In this modification the left-hand wall of the portion 46 is cut away to provide vertically spaced supports 48 for a spool 49 having pins 50 registering in complementary recesses in the supports 48 for rotation of the spool. Thus, while the chain is passing through the slot portion 46 under tension it will rotate the spool and thus reduce friction to a minimum.

In the position of the bracket in which it extends away from the window as exemplified in FIG. 4, both runs or reaches 31 and 32 of the line 33 are trained about the pulleys 29, 30 respectively. Either when the bracket, on moving inward, reaches the position shown in full lines in FIG. 3 or when it reaches another suitable position in which it extends into the window, such as, for example, the position shown in broken lines, the operator disengages both sides of the line from the pulleys 29, 30. For hanging laundry on or taking it off the line, the position of the bracket inside the window is most apt to be one closer to the position thereof shown in FIG. 3 in broken lines than the position shown in full lines. After the laundry has been hung out or taken off the line, the operator first re-trains the two sides of the line about the pulleys 29, 30, with one hand, while holding the bracket with the other hand against swinging clockwise. Then the chain is disengaged from the slot 37 and it may be left to hang freely while the operator slowly swings the bracket counter-clockwise in a position wherein the bracket lies outside the window, past a position of parallelity with the window. With the bracket in this position the chain is re-engaged in the slot with the chain extending therethrough in the opposite direction, that is, the direction in which it extends in FIG. 4. By first engaging the chain only in the vertical slot portion 37a (or 43 or 46) and pulling on the chain until the bracket has been fully extended from the window into, say, the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 4, or a position close thereto, the operation on the bracket is greatly simplified and requires no leaning out of the window. After the bracket has thus been properly positioned, the chain is moved into the horizontal slot 37b (or 44 or 47) to lock the same, and thus the bracket is restrained from clockwise rotation.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to the structure illustrated in the drawing, such is not to be construed as a limitation upon the invention which is best defined in the appended claims.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A device of the class described comprising two vertically spaced horizontal supporting members for attaching the device to a window frame, a unitary bracket including an upper arm and a lower arm and a connecting portion joining the outer ends of said arms, the inner ends of the arms having aligned downwardly extending ends forming aligned pivot pins, said connecting portion carrying a pulley about which one end of a clothes line is adapted to be trained, said supporting members having one end thereof attached to the window frame and the other end thereof extending partway across the window frame opening, the upper of said supporting members including a horizontal web and a. vertical web extending therefrom, said horizontal web and the lower of said supporting members having aligned openings near the outer ends thereof in which said pivot pins register whereby the bracket may be swung from a position extending outward from the window at substantially right angles to the plane of the window to a position extending inward through the window at substantially right angles to said plane, the pivot pin on the upper arm including a projection below the upper supporting member having two vertically spaced pulleys rotatably mounted thereon about which the top and bottom reaches of the clothes line are adapted to be trained, and means for restraining the bracket from swinging about said pivot pins when the bracket extends inward through or outward from the window, said means comprising a chain having one end thereof secured to said upper arm at a point outward from the axis of said pivot pins, said chain being composed of links having the mutually interlinked ends thereof normally at right angles to each other, said vertical web having a slot therein extending upward through the lower edge of the web, said slot having at least a portion thereof of a width greater than the thickness of said links and smaller than the width of the links, said slot being positioned spaced from the ends of the upper supporting member, any one link of the chain remote from said one end thereof being adapted to be releasably engaged and locked in said slot to restrain the bracket against swinging on said pivot pins as aforesaid.

2. A device of the class described comprising two vertically spaced horizontal supporting members for attaching the device to a window frame, a unitary bracket including an upper arm and a lower arm and a connecting portion joining the outer ends of said arms, the inner ends of the arms having aligned downwardly extending ends forming aligned pivot pins, said connecting portion carrying a pulley about which one end of a clothes line is adapted to be trained, said supporting members having one end thereof attached to the window frame and the other end thereof extending partway across the window frame opening, the upper of said supporting members including a horizontal web and a vertical web extending therefrom, said horizontal web and the lower of said supporting members having aligned openings near the outer ends thereof in which said pivot pins register whereby the bracket may be swung from a position extending outward from the window at substantially right angles to the plane of the window to a position extending inward through the window at substantially right angles to said plane, the pivot pin on the upper arm including a projection below the upper supporting member having two vertically spaced pulleys rotatably mounted thereon about which the top and bottom reaches of the clothes line are adapted to be trained, and means for restraining the bracket from swinging about said pivot pins when the bracket extends inward through or outward from the window, said means comprising a chain having one end thereof secured to said upper arm at a point outward from the axis of said pivot pins, said vertical web having an L-shaped slot therein, said slot being positioned spaced from the ends of the upper supporting member and consisting of a vertical portion extending upward through the lower edge of the web and a horizontal portion extending from the upper end of the vertical portion in a direction outward toward the outer end of the web, the chain being composed of successive links normally having the mutually interlinked ends thereof substantially at right angles to each other and having a width greater than the thickness thereof, said vertical slot portion having a width greater than the width of said links, said horizontal slot portion having a width greater than the thickness of said links and smaller than the width of the links, said chain being freely slidable through said vertical slot portion and being adapted to be locked against movement in said horizontal slot portion in the direction of said point to maintain the bracket against pivotal movement in a direction tending to increase tension on the chain.

3. A device according to claim 2, said vertical portion of said slot having at least a part of that edge thereof which is closer to the outer end of the Web rounded.

4. A device according to claim 3, said edge of said vertical portion of the slot having a projection at the top thereof extending part way into the vertical portion.

5. A device according to claim 2, said vertical portion of said slot having a cut-out therein providing vertically spaced spool supports having a spool rotatably supported therebetween.

6. A device of the class described comprising an elongated upper horizontal support member and a lower horizontal support member, said members being adapted to be secured on the outside of a window frame with the members extending part way across the window opening, at least said upper member including a horizontal web and a vertical web, the horizontal web having a vertical opening therethrough at the outer end thereof, said lower member having a vertical opening therein aligned with said firstnamed vertical opening, a unitary bracket including an up per arm, a lower arm and a connecting portion between the outer ends of said arms, the inner ends of said arm having aligned downwardly extending ends providing pivot pins, the pivot pin on the upper arm passing through said first-named vertical opening and having a portion thereof projecting below said horizontal web, the pivot pin on the lower arm registering rotatably in said second-named vertical opening, said connecting portion carrying a pulley about which one end of a clothes line is adapted to be trained, said projecting portion of the pivot pin of the upper arm having two vertically spaced pulleys rotatably mounted thereon about which the top and bottom reaches of the clothes line are adapted to be trained, said vertical web having a slot therein extending through the horizontal edge thereof which is remote from the vertical web, the upper arm having a chain secured thereto, said chain being adapted to extend through said slot in either direction and having any link thereof selectively engageable with the walls of the slot to lock the chain against movement through the slot to restrain the bracket against swinging on its pivots when the bracket is positioned either in outwardly extending position with respect to the Window or in inwardly extending position with respect to the window, the chain in one of said extending positions of the bracket passing through said slot in one direction and in the other of said extending positions of the bracket passing through the slot in the opposite direction.

7. A device according to claim 6, said connecting portion having a pin thereon at right angles to the plane of the bracket, said first-named pulley being rotatably mounted on said last-named pin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,014,291 Frey Jan. 9, 1912 1,045,230 Whittley Nov. 26, 1912 1,496,793 Unger June 10, 1924 1,616,314 Festenberg Feb. 1, 1927 1,899,467 Lance Feb. 28, 1933 2,117,233 Clark May 10, 1938 2,517,533 Carwithen Aug. 8, 1950 

